1. European Education Area VET post-2020 agenda EQAVET Annual Network Meeting Sofia, 20 June 2018
Jan VARCHOLA Team Leader European Commission, Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Unit E3 - Vocational training, Apprenticeships and Adult learning

2. European Education Area Context and aims
Political context
November 2017: Gothenburg Summit: Education and Culture topics of debate, informed by the Commission Communication on "Strengthening European Identity through Education and Culture"
December 2017: European Council Conclusions
Aims
promote cross-border mobility and cooperation in education and training;
help overcome unjustified obstacles to the "free movement of learners" and create a genuine European learning space;
support Member States in improving the inclusive, lifelong-learning based and innovation-driven nature of their education and training systems.
In December 2017, the European Council called on Member States, the Council and the Commission:
to take work forward a number of key initiatives, including the Erasmus+ programme, European universities, language learning, the European Student Card, the mutual recognition of diplomas and the European Year of Cultural Heritage;
to examine possible measures addressing the skills challenge linked to digitalisation, cybersecurity, media literacy and artificial intelligence; the need for an inclusive, life-long-learning-based and innovation-driven approach to education and training; and the legal and financial framework conditions for the development of cultural and creative industries and the mobility of professionals of the cultural sector.

3. On-going: Work on the European Student Card (by 2021)
European Education Area
Delivery
January 2018: first package of measures on key competences, digital skills, and common values and inclusive education
On-going: work on European Universities and the European Student Card
22 May package: Proposal for Council Recommendations and CoVE
30 May: proposal for a new Erasmus programme
Still to come: new framework for cooperation in Education and Training
- European Universities
Europe has a long and proud tradition of universities that cooperate across borders. The new ‘European Universities’ consisting of bottom-up networks of universities should bring this cross-border cooperation to the next level of ambition, where higher education institutions, sharing the same vision and values, develop long-term institutional strategies for top-quality education, research and innovation. The European Universities should become key elements of the European Education Area by driving excellence.
European Universities should act as models for other higher education institutions, progressively increasing the international competitiveness of European higher education. They should operate on the basis of multidisciplinary approaches, allowing students, lecturers and researchers to co-create and share knowledge and innovation. This could help to address the big societal challenges and skills shortages that Europe faces. It could also boost the contribution that universities make to their regions.
European Universities should drive the development of highly integrated and open study programmes (combining modules in different countries). Mobility should be a standard feature, embedded at Bachelor, Master and Doctoral levels. This should lead to the emergence of ‘European degrees’ recognised throughout Europe.
A set of key principles will underpin these European Universities: every type of higher education institution in any Member State would be able to participate by means of fair and balanced criteria. The networks should be geographically balanced and socially inclusive. There will be no one-size-fits-all model. Institutions can propose the model that suits their needs through a bottom-up, open and transparent approach and develop the level of ambition gradually. For funding to be sustainable, European Universities should be able to draw from a combination of EU and national resources.
The Commission aims to foster the emergence of at least twenty European Universities by However, to put such an ambitious idea into practice requires time for sound preparation and sufficient resources. In the initial phase, the Commission is working closely with Member States and stakeholders to develop the concept. It will propose to launch pilots to start in 2019 and 2020 under the Erasmus+ programme, and with full rollout as of Based on these pilots and a mapping of existing networks, the Commission will explore, in consultation with stakeholders, the option of creating a dedicated legal statute for European Universities by 2025.
On-going: Work on the European Student Card (by 2021)
Why?
To help reduce administrative burden and costs for students and education institutions;
To enable students to identify themselves in a trusted manner at.
To allow for secure exchange of student data
To give access to services (library, transport, accommodation).
State of play: Pilot project to roll out in 2019

4. Teaching and learning of languages
European Education Area
22 May package
Commission proposals for Council Recommendations on:
Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC)
Teaching and learning of languages
Automatic recognition of diplomas and learning periods abroad
Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC)
is an efficient and effective investment in education and training;
improves education outcomes and leads to higher basic skills attainment;
helps prevent early school leaving;
benefits especially children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
What do we propose?
Support EU Member States to improve access to and quality of their early childhood education and care systems, by:
making EU funding available for improvements;
reviewing benchmarks and targets;
Develop a common EU-wide understanding of what constitutes good quality service provision.
Teaching and learning of languages
Why:
Slow progress towards the EU-wide agreed goal that every European should be able to learn two foreign languages from an early age.
Language proficiency levels among students at the end of compulsory education are generally low.
Very large differences exist between Member States
What do we propose:
boost language learning by focusing on reaching specific competence levels;
ensure that learning mobility and study periods abroad are incorporated in the education of language teachers;
identify and promote innovative, inclusive and multilingual pedagogies, using European tools and platforms;
strengthen the cooperation between the European Commission and the Council of Europe's European Centre for Modern Languages.

5. Automatic recognition of diplomas and learning periods abroad
Why:
The lack of automatic recognition of qualifications and of the outcomes of learning periods across the EU hampers learning mobility.
Proposal for a step-by-step approach to automatically recognise in other Member States:
a higher education qualification gained in one Member State, for the purpose of further studies;
an upper secondary qualification giving access to higher education in one Member State, for the purpose of access to higher education;
the outcomes from a learning period abroad in secondary and higher education.
Full text:
The proposed Recommendation suggests a step-by-step approach to support Member States in ensuring that, without having to go through a separate recognition process:
a higher education qualification gained in one Member State is automatically recognised, for the purpose of granting access to further studies, in the others;
an upper secondary qualification giving access to higher education (including those in vocational education and training) in one Member State is automatically recognised, for the purpose of granting access to higher education, in the others;
the outcomes from a learning period abroad in secondary and higher education should be recognised and allow enrolment in the next year of school or study, when appropriately documented.

6. Automatic recognition of diplomas and learning periods abroad
For secondary level
Foster transparency and built trust by …
…developing further QA instruments in VET in line with EQAVET
Facilitate mobility and recognition of outcomes learning period abroad by:
…in VET, extending the use of EU tools, such as the Europass Mobility, ECVET Memorandum of Understanding and Learning Agreement and others made available through the Europass online platform for skills and qualifications

7. Review of ET 2020 Provisional plans Inputs
First semester of 2019 – adoption of adoption of Commission proposal for future cooperation on education and training (including VET and AL sectors) – followed by Council Conclusions
Inputs
High Level Group discussion
Member State survey
Stakeholder position papers
Independent external assessment Expert Indicators Group (SGIB)
European Education + Training Expert panel

8. ACVT Opinion: Shared vision on the future of VET for 2030
Preparation of an Opinion by the Advisory Committee on VET (ACVT) on a "Shared Vision of future-fit VET systems 2030"
Aim: To build on available evidence and ensure a bottom-up approach
Key objectives of the vision:
Skills and competences for employability, adaptability & personal development
Accessible, attractive, valued and modern provision
Integrated, responsive and diversified systems with governance and funding which foster excellence, inclusion and effectiveness
Process:
Discussion of background paper, ACVT, 4-5 June 2018
Discussion during the events of the 3rd EVSW, 5-9 November 2018
Adoption of Opinion, Brussels, AVCT, 3-4 December 2018